Intuitive use of hikite (in a rugby match)

Here’s an interesting bit of video sent to me by Stewart Squire in Australia. At round 1:55 in you can see two of the players start fighting. Notice how the dominant hand is used for striking and the other hand (in this case both player’s left hand) is used to get a tactile feel for where the other player is. This is an almost intuitive method of punching that we make fundamental use of from day one in karate i.e. one hand locating and pulling while the other strikes (using proprioception). Sadly the purpose of the “pulling hand” is not always recognised and the hand that ends of the hip is attributed no function. However, one of the key functions of hiki-te (pulling hand) is to help locate the enemy in the chaos of conflict. I’ve got a few drills I teach at the seminars to show how effective this method can be; but the key point is that is that it is intuitive and natural and I think this is a good example of that.

Great video. The slow mo bit at 2.35 really shows them hanging on and pulling onto the punch. Even then they didn't seem to be able to land much. Most of the damage and movement against each other is caused by the pulling hand rather than the striking hand.

I don't think I'd like to be punched by either of those two axe murders.

Personally I'd be asking exactly how "intuitive and natural" this really is in this case?

These are Rugby players and well used to ragging each other about even when they aren't fighting. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be that unfamiliar with a bit of a pitch scrap either. You can see the hands sneaking into grip range as they exchange pleasantries and seem well clued up as to what they are intending to do.

Don't get me wrong...grabbing and hitting is too common not to be fairly intuitive but there some experience at work here too IMHO. :)

PA Smith, having played plenty of rugby league myself the clip shown was all too familiar and I would say that what was seen is natural and intuitive. A kick off during a rugby match or in a street altercation between ''untrained'' individuals will usually see the combatantsdo what works instinctively, they have the distinct advantage of not having their instinctive responses trained out of them, which often happens with training in a martial art, so the rugby player(in this example) will use the simplest, most direct means to achieve their goal.

What we call hikite would be the obvious choice to control and dominate an opponent for an untrained fighter etc, they just don't need to be taught the principle .

I feel this is where people struggle with scenario/real fighting drills, they don't actually realise the way real violence tends to pan out